Garment structure with crotch



Sept 8, 1953 J. R. MILBERG 2,651,048

GARMENT STRUCTURE WITH 'CROTCH Filed Nov. 22, 1952 Patented Sept. 8, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE GARMENT STRUCTURE WITH CROTCH JacquesRandolph Milberg, East Rockaway, N. Y.

Application November 22, 1952, Serial No. 322,100

1 Claim. (Cl. 2-224) This invention relates to garment structures and,more particularly, to undergarments such as panties, girdles, bathingsuits, and similar wearing apparel in which the crotch thereof isarranged and shaped to contribute to a simplified and improved garmentstructure.

This garment may be made from any suitable stretchable material, Whetherelastic or not.

It is an object of the present invention to provide means affording acomfortable t for an undergarment or similar wearing apparel whichpermits maximum freedom of movement and conforms at all times to thecontour of the human body on which said garment is worn.

It is another object of the present invention to provide meanscontributing to the exertion of a uniform pressure around the legs ofthe human body on which said garment is worn, notwithstanding the factthat the garment is subjected to stretching in the longitudinaldirection and in the transverse direction of the garment, eithersuccessively or simultaneously.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide meansconducive to the elimination of seams conventionally7 extendingalongside the garment of the aforesaid type, whereby a stronger andlonger lasting garment is obtained.

It is still a further object of the present invention to provide meansrendering the possibility of substantially immobilizing the crotch of agarment of the aforesaid type when the garment is subjected tostretching in a transverse direction of the latter.

It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide meansfacilitating a longitudinal stretching of the crotch without thenecessity of stretching the remainder of the garment in the samedirection.

It is yet another object of the present invention to provide meansaffording transverse stretching of an undergarment without exerting anypressure on the crotch of the garment, while uniform pressure is exertedaround the legs of the wearer, to thereby effectively prevent riding upor binding of the garment on the body of the wearer.

These and other objects and features will become apparent from thefollowing detailed description, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawing.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a front view of a garment constructed according to theinvention;

Fig. 2 is a rear View of the garment of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a front view of the garment showing the crotch stretched alongthe direction of the arrows;

Fig. 4 is a rear view of the garment of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a portion of the garment showing the stretched sides of thegarment;

Fig. 6 is a rear view of the garment of Fig. 5;

2 Fig. '7 is a front view of the garment showing one of the sides andone portion of the crotch thereof in stretched position; and

Fig. 8 is a plan view of the crotch element of the garment of Fig. 1 inunstretched (shown in full lines) and stretched (shown in dotted lines)positions.

Referring now more particularly to the drawing, there is shown in Figs.1 and 2 the front and rear views, respectively, of a garment embodyingthe invention. As may be realized from Fig. 2, garment I is made fromone piece of material, such as nylon, cotton or silk fabric, jersey andlike material. Such garment is shown in the form of a panty to be wornespecially by children and ladies, and may be manufactured through massproduction methods.

As a particular advantage of the structure of this garment is to beconsidered the fact that it is entirely devoid of side seams, and thebody consists of a single piece of material having the front seam I Iand the upwardly converging lower side seams I2 and i3 extending intothe rearward or central seam Ifl at the juncture I5. This juncture I5 orlower end of joined upper side edges Ilia, Illb is located approximatelyonehalf to one-third of the vertical length or height of the garment, ascan be seen from Figs. 2, 4 and 6.

Seams II, I2 and I3 connect crotch element or insert I6 to the garment.This crotch element I6 has a pointed end I'I from which the side wallsor edges Iii, I9 diverge and terminate into corners 20, 2| from whichthe crotch element extends into the front piece 22 thereof, whichterminates into an arcuate-shaped or convex edge 23 coinciding with seamII, as matr be visualized from Figs. l, 3 and 5. Crotch element I6 maybe stretched in lengthwise direction thereof, as indicated indot-and-dash lines in Fig. 8, whereby the arcuate edge 23 assumes aposition as indicated by numeral 23a.

As may be gathered from the aforesaid description, the body portion I0aof the garment has the upper side edges Ida, Ilb joined along rear seamI4, the downwardly directed edges I2a, I3a which are joined to the edgesI8 and I9 of the crotch element I6 at seams I2 and i3 and the respectiveupwardly convergent leg encircling portions or edges 24, 25 forming theleg openings 26, 21 along which at 24a, 25a are joined the edges 20a and2m of the front piece 22 of the crotch element I6.

Let it be assumed that the body portion lila is made from a material,such as nylon jersey, adapted to be stretched only in the direction ofarrows A (Figs. 5 and 6) then it will readily be seen that neither thefront crotch piece 22 nor the rear piece 22a of the crotch element I6are displaced or shifted to any substantia1 extent.

Figs. 3 and 4 indicate that the material of the body portion Illa issubstantially non-stretchable in a direction perpendicular to thatindicated by arrows A. In a similar way, crotch element i6 is alsosubstantially non-stretchable in the direction of arrows A, but only inthe direction of arrows B (Figs. 3 and 4).

The aforesaid structure results in a garment whose respective legopenings 25, 21 rmay be in.- dependently stretched or lengthened in thedirection of arrows C to a position indicated by numerals 21a, 2lb (Fig.'7) 2lb inditing the upper` end of the leg encircling portion 25.

The aforesaid disclosure as regards the body portion loc and crotchelement IB will make it immediately clear that a substantiallyrectangular-shaped piece .of material can be readily cut.

The cutting of this piece of material will occur substantially withoutany waste, because each cutting .operation provides two body portionsand two crotch pieces therebetween. This p-articular cutting operationresults in marked labor and material savings.

As illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4, crotch element I6, when stretched inlengthwise Adirection (arrows B), will contribute to larger leg openings25, 21 (compared to leg `openings in Figs. 1 and whereby the stretchedportions are located only at the side edges 20a, 21a of crotch elementi5, which is clearly indicated in Fig. 4. This stretching occurs withoutpull on the upper part of the garment which does not pull, bind or ridedownwardly, as is the case in conventional garments of similar type.

A further advantage is attained in that the seamS .0f the body portionIlla which are reduced in number (in comparison with known garments ofthis type), are substantially not subjected to stresses so that the lifeof the garment is considerably increased and repairs are substantiallyavoided. The garment withstands repeated washings and laundering withoutcausing the rupture and opening of seams which are no longer located atthe sides of the garment, where stretching in transverse direction ofthe garment occurs and the largest stresses are concentrated.

Furthermore, regardless of the direction in which the garment isstretched, when it is worn the pressure exerted around the legs of theuser is uniform as a result of the positioning of the seams joining thebodice to the crotch element and the relative stretching thus providedbetween the bodice and the crotch element. In addition, transversestretching of he body portion Hla will not result in the exerting of anysubstantial pressure on the crotch element, so that the position of thecrotch element as well as its stretchability are substantially notaffected by the stretching of the body portion Illa.

It follows from the above description that a garment having leg openingshas been constructed which consists of a body portion 10a provided withsubstantially centrally-located joined upper side edges Ma, Mb,downwardly diverging lower side edges 12a, |3a extending from saidjoined edges at the lower end thereof at l5,.curved side edges 24a, 25ahaving lower ends, said curved side `edges 24a, 25a'. forming a part ofa .respective leg opening 2t, 2l and extending from said downwardlydiverging edges l2a, 13a, an intermediate edge at Il joining said curvedside edges 24a, 25a at said lower ends, and a crotch element I6including a front piece 22 joined to said downwardly diverging edges,and further including a rear ,piece 22a provided with side ,edgesforming the remainder of said leg openings and joined to saidintermediate edge at Il of said garment at the front of the latter.

If the body portion Illa and the crotch element I6 are made from amaterial such as nylon, which is relatively not stretchable, then itwill readily be seen that a certain amount of stretching will still bepermitted due to the angle provided between upwardly directed edges l2a,I3a. In addition, upon stretching of the garment either in the directionof arrows A (Figs. 5 and 6), ,or the direction of arrows B (Figs. 3 and4) the stresses existing at edges |2a and l3a will be resolyed intocomponents substantially perpendicular and parallel to said edges sothat the seams will not readily rupture and open. Thus, the life and.comfort afforded the garment (in comparison with known garments of thistype) is considerably improved. The stretching of the garment in desireddirections may be pre-controlled in accordance with the features of theinvention .as hereinabove disclosed.

Thus, briefly the garment has an upper waist encircling portion andlower legs embracing portions. A .central rear seam extends from saidwaist .encircling portion downwardly and terminates in a lower `endlocated approximately within the upper Yhalf of the vertical length oithe garment. On opposite side of said central rear seam are cut alongupwardly convergent lines the lower legs embracing portions, the upperends o which terminate at a level below that of said lower en@ .O f Saidcentral rear seam. These upper ends of said legs embracing portions arepositioned inthe lower half of the garment. A crotch insert is cut withits rear portion complementary to linear diverging side ,edges andstitched thereto at the rear of the garment and extends from the latterto the front of the garment and terminates thereat in va convexly shapedfront edge stitched to a correspondingly shaped convex front edge of thebody portion to thereby complement said legs embracing portions. Thefront edge is located at a level lower than the upper ends of said legsembracing portions.

Although one embodiment of the invention has been described and shown inthe drawing, it should be noted that the invention 4may be realized inmodified form and adaptations of the arrangements herein disclosed maybe made, as may readily occur to persons skilled in the art, withoutconstituting a departure from the spirit and scope of -the linvention asdened in the objects and in the appended claim.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as lnew andVdesired to be secured by Letters Patent, is :l

An undergarment having an upper waist encircling portion and lower legembracing portions; comprising a body portion formed Afrom a singlepanel of material having upper side edges joined t0 form a substantiallyvertically extending seam centrally located with respect to the rear ofsaid undergarment, said rear seam extending from said waistencircling-portiondownwardly ,and terminating in a lower end locatedapproximatelywithin the upper half of the vertical length of said bodyportion, downwardly diverging linear lower side edges extending fromsaid'lower end Aof said rear seam, said lower portions of saidundergarment on opposite sides of said central rear seam being out alongupwardly convergent lines .the upper ends 0f which Germinate at a levelbelowsaid lower end of said rear seam ,and defining said leg embracingportions,

159 said upper ends of said leg embracing portions being positioned inthe lower half of the body portion, and a crotch insert having its rearpor- -tion complementary to said linear diverging side edges andstitched thereto, said crotch insert extending from the rear of saidbody portion to the front of said body portion and terminating at thefront in a convexly shaped front edge stitched to a correspondinglyshaped concave front edge of said body portion to thereby complementsaid legs embracing portions, said front edge being located at a levellower than said upper ends of said legs embracing portions, the materialof said crotch insert being stretchable in a direction extending fromsaid lower rear 15 seam end toward said convexly shaped front edge ofsaid insert, the material of said body portion being stretchable in adirection transversely of the direction of stretchability of saidinsert, whereby said undergarment presents a free from binding effect onthe wearer.

JACQUES RANDOLPH MILBERG.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 1,929,363 Long Oct. 3, 1933 2,459,043 Owenby et a1 Jan. 11,1949 2,613,360 Friedland et al Oct. 14, 1952

